And for South Simcoe Police officers attempting to catch motorists who have been drinking and driving, eye movement is a dead giveaway, officers said during Monday’s police services board meeting.

Const. Steve Black presented facts regarding the procedures and statistics of the drinking and driving efforts of the force during the course of 2012.

The 30-minute presentation outlined key factors when it comes to testing, charging and, in some cases, apprehending drivers once they have been caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Officers use simple but effective procedures to test the eye movement of drivers who have been selected or identified as unfit to operate a vehicle.

Const. Black explained tests are conducted using a unique card-like object, which an officer will move horizontally or vertically from side to side to determine if the driver has excessive eye twitching. From that alone, officers are able to get an idea of how high an individual’s blood alcohol level may be.

As part of the presentation, Const. Black updated the board and interested citizens of its statistics during the Festive RIDE Program over the 2012 holiday season.

“This year, we stopped a total of 7,530 cars, with 34 being charged with over 80 mgs (of alcohol in the bloodstream), compared to only 20 charges being made in 2011. That’s approximately a 70-per-cent increase,” he said.

During that particular RIDE program, fewer cars were stopped compared to 7,795 in 2011 and 10,308 in 2010, yet more drivers were caught and charged, as pointed out by Mayor Doug White after reviewing the information.

Const. Black explained why that was.

“During this RIDE program, we were set up in a lot of the back roads and side streets, as opposed to the main roadways. We stopped a smaller amount of cars, but it seems that those roads were commonly taken by drivers who had a little too much to drink.”

Though it is unfortunate to see the number of charges increase, board member Rod Hicks congratulated the force for their continued efforts in finding and charging impaired drivers.

“It’s impressive to see what you’ve done and have been able to do with this,” he said.

Staff Sgt. Steve Wilson noted the amount of full-time officers on hand for the RIDE program allows for two areas to be set up, with lots of front-line officers on the roads to screen drivers as they pass through.

Another initiative used by the force include work of the canine unit during RIDE and, as Const. Black explained, once the presence of a dog is mentioned to a driver suspected to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a suspect tends to admit up to 95 per cent of the time to having something illegal in the vehicle.

The next meeting will be held March 25 at 7 p.m. at the south division.